The passive voice
ተገብሮ ድምፅ (the passive)
Say what happens or happened when the action matters more than who did it.
How it works
Use the passive when the action is more important than the person who does it, or when we don't know who did it.
ድርጊቱ ከፈጻሚው በላይ አስፈላጊ ሲሆን ወይም ማን እንዳደረገው ሳናውቅ passive እንጠቀማለን።
be + past participle · be + ሦስተኛው የግስ ቅርጽ
Present: Coffee is grown in many parts of Ethiopia.
ቡና በብዙ የኢትዮጵያ አካባቢዎች ይመረታል።
Past: The new school was opened last year.
አዲሱ ትምህርት ቤት ባለፈው ዓመት ተከፈተ።
Add by for the person: The report was written by Hana.
ሪፖርቱ በሀና ተጻፈ።
Amharic often shows the passive with ተ- (ተጻፈ, ተከፈተ). English uses be + past participle: was written, was opened.
አማርኛ passiveን ብዙውን ጊዜ በ"ተ-" ያሳያል (ተጻፈ፣ ተከፈተ)፤ እንግሊዝኛ ደግሞ be + past participle (was written) ይጠቀማል።
Examples
Listen, then tap the microphone to record yourself and compare. Your voice stays on your phone.
Coffee is grown in many parts of Ethiopia.
ቡና በብዙ የኢትዮጵያ አካባቢዎች ይመረታል።
English is spoken in many countries.
እንግሊዝኛ በብዙ አገሮች ይነገራል።
The new school was opened last year.
አዲሱ ትምህርት ቤት ባለፈው ዓመት ተከፈተ።
My phone was stolen on the bus.
ስልኬ አውቶቡስ ውስጥ ተሰረቀ።
The report was written by Hana.
ሪፖርቱ በሀና ተጻፈ።
The meeting has been cancelled.
ስብሰባው ተሰርዟል።
Your order will be delivered tomorrow.
ትዕዛዝዎ ነገ ይደርስልዎታል።